Sewer cleaning tool



May 16, 1939. T. HALEY 2,158,577

SEWER CLEANING TOOL Filed July 24, 1937 (Ittorneg/D Patented May 16,1939 SEWER CLEANING TOOL Timothy Haley, Springfield, Ohio, assignor of]one-hallI to George R. Krumholtz, Springfield,

Ohio

2 Claims.

This invention relates to driving mechanism for tools and the like.'I'he invention more particularly relates to a driving mechanism for atool for cleaning sewers, although the mechanism is not necessarilylimited to that particular purpose, and it 'especially relates to adriving mechanism employing a flexible driving shaft'.

While flexible driving shafts made of coiled wire have heretofore beenused for various purposes,

L0 including the use in sewer cleaners, diiliculty has been experiencedin' the buckling of the flexible driving shaft and also in theaccumulationl upon the revolving shaft of roots and trash encountered inthe sewer. It is one of the objects of this '.5 invention toprotect theexible driving shaft by encasing it in a flexible non-revoluble casingwhich together with the shaft and cutting tool may be readily insertedin the sewer to be cleaned.

A further object of the invention is to provide 0 a cutting tool forsewer cleaning purposes which will be effective for that purpose andwhich will also act to sever any accumulation of roots or trash whichmay have accumulated thereon in case the tool meets an obstruction inthe sewer..

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved driving mechanism shownequipped with a cutting tool for sewer cleaning purposes and partiallyinserted in a sewer, part of which is shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the improved cutting tool in normal cuttingposition.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same tool in collapsed position.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged View partly in side elevation and partly insection of the forward portion of the flexible driving shaft and itscasing, the bearing for the shaft, also shown in section, and thethreaded stem upon which the tool is secured.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a brush for sewer cleaning purposeswhich may be attached to the flexible driving shaft.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a coupling usedk Application July 24,1937, serial No. 155.415

(ci. 151o4.3o)

turns of the shaft to prevent the shaft and casing from becoming screwedtogether which might happen in the event that the turns were alike.

'Ihe shaft I is driven from an electric motor 3, the shaft 3' of whichis connected to the flexible 5 shaft I through the medium of a flexiblecoupling 4, speed reducing device 5 and coupling 6. The coupling 6 issecured vin any suitable manner to the end of the shaft I and ispreferably secured to the short shaft 5 which projects from the speed 10-reducing device through the medium of a breakable wooden pin 'I so asto disconnect the flexible shaft from themotor in the event that thetool meets with an obstruction sufficient to stop the rotation of theparts. 15

A preferable form of cutting tool which I employ for sewer cleaning isshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and consists of a steel ribbon 8 woundspirally so as to present a cutting tool of conical form, the small endof which leads. 'I'he rear end of this 20 ribbon has connected therewitha head 9, a rivet I0 being shown in the present case as the means forconnecting the parts, although the ribbon and head may be connected inany other suitable way. The head 9 has a reduced threaded stem 25 9'having a hexagonal outer surface whereby it may be screwed upon aconnection to be explained which will fasten it to the forward end ofthe flexible shaft.

The forward end of the exible shaft I has 30 secured thereto a stem IIthe ends of which are threaded as indicated at II' and II" and as shownIbest in Fig. 4, leaving an intermediate plain portion, the rearthreaded end II" of the stem being screwed into the driving shaft. 35Screwed upon the forward end of the exible casing 2 is a bearing housingI2 containing ballbearings I3. One of the races I l for these ballbearings is fast in the housing and the other race I5 is fast on theintermediate plain portion of 40 the stem I I. 'Ihe outer threaded endII' of this stem I I receives the threaded portion 9' of the head 9 ofthe tool 8. 'I'he stem preferably has fixed thereto a hexagonal nut orhead I6 to receive a wrench to hold the exible shaft from turning whenthe tool is being applied or removed.

In practice the tool 8 is made of several different sizes, the smallsize being rst secured to the flexible shaft which is inserted in thesewer, indicated at S in Fig. 1. This small size is used to first cutand dislodge a portion of the obstructions and in the event that thetool meets with an undue resistance, by reason of its construction itwill be permitted to telescope as shown in Fig. 3, it being assumed thatthe tool shown in Figs. 2 and 3 may be the smaller size or one of theintermediate sizes and that the one shown in Fig. l is the larger size.When the tool telescopes as shown in Fig. 3 any roots or other trashwhich have accumulated thereon will -be cut by the rear edges of thecoils. The forward end of the tool is preferably bent to a blade-likeform as indicated at 8. Aiter the smaller tool has been run through thesewer the larger size or an intermediate size is then inserted so as tosever the roots as close to the Wall of the sewer as possible. By reasonof the peculiar construction of this tool it will be seen that the toolwill be able to follow short bends in the sewer pipe as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1, so as to permit its ready insertion in the sewer.

After the cutting tool has been used to sever the roots to dislodge thetrash a brush such as shown in Fig. 5 and indicated at l1, the core ITof which has a threaded opening, may be screwed upon the outer end ofthe stem II and run through the sewer to eliminate cut roots and trash.

The improved driving devices are also adapted for operating other formsof tools than sewer cleaning devices, such for instance as a drillindicated at I8 in Fig. 7. To connect this drill to the flexible drivingshaft a coupling I8 is employed having a threaded bore which screws uponthe threaded shank I8 of the drill and also upon the forward end of thestem Il.

The motor 3 is mounted upon a base 2D and this base has a standard 2lupon which the upper end of the casing 2 is clamped and also a standard22 which supports the casing of the speed reducing device 5.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. In a sewer cleaning apparatus, a flexible driving'shaft, means at oneend of said shaft for driving the same, and a. cutting tool secured tothe other end of said shaft, said cutting tool consisting of a. spirallywound steel ribbon to present a tool of conical form, the turns of saidribbon being capable of relative telescopic movement upon meeting anobstruction.

2. In a sewer cleaning apparatus, a iiexible .driving shaft, means atone end of said shaft for driving the same, and a cutting tool securedto the other end of said shaft, said cutting tool consisting of aspirally wound steel ribbon to present a tool of conical form, theforward end of said ribbon being bent to form a pointed,forwardlyextending cutting blade.

TIMOTHY HALEY.

